When Foot Locker purchased WSS and Atmos, I explained that it was the incorrect purchase. I’ve long considered Jimmy Jazz the jewel of urban retail. My visits to the Harlem Flagship and stores throughout the south showed me that the retailer was one private label away from offsetting the impending moves from Nike’s Consumer Direct Offense/Acceleration. Jimmy Jazz never leaned into that prediction, but they didn’t have to. While other stores saw allotments and relationships with Nike end, Jimmy Jazz finally rolled out an app and developed e-commerce. When long time President Robert Shapiro, stepped away this year, I knew something major was on the horizon, but I thought Foot Locker would be wise enough to add Jimmy Jazz.
While the app and ecommerce helped, while traveling through the South recently I recognized that the stores were missing a lot of sneaker inventory:
In the post above I wrote, “Jimmy Jazz is the last of the major indie chains standing. When the owner purchased 5% of the shares in Hibbett Sports, it signaled to me that Jimmy Jazz might be the next chip to fall in the sneaker retail collapse under the weight of Nike. That didn’t happen as FootLocker purchased Atmos and WSS. After seeing multiple stores on my road trip, I would estimate that in 6 months, Jimmy Jazz will be owned by another chain.” It’s 4 months after this quote. I was off by 2.
Information from https://news.in-24.com/news/335732.html
The sneaker and streetwear retailer SNIPES, based in Cologne, is significantly expanding its presence in the USA and is taking over the American sneaker chain Jimmy Jazz. The signing was confirmed today and the acquisition is expected to be completed by the end of the year. The takeover will roughly triple the number of SNIPES stores in the United States: the store network there will grow from over 100 to almost 270 stores.
SNIPES is a global sneaker and streetwear retailer with more than 450 stores in Europe and the United States. The omnichannel company is deeply rooted in hip-hop culture and a community-centric approach based on supporting, promoting and celebrating street culture.
